Florida Arborist

1 A Publication of the Florida Chapter Volume 15, Number 1, Spring 2012 Florida ArboristFlorida ArboristSpring 2012 In This Issue: Florida Loses Senator1 President s Message22011 Chapter Expenses3 News From International5FL ISA Awards Program6 ISA Logo Use Enforced8An Unethical Practice8 Future ISA Initiative11 IRS Reminder12 Teaching Youth English/Spanish14 Consultant s Corner16 Fire Ant Fungus17 New Plant Hardiness Zone Map18 Tree Fund Update19 New Research Grants21 ANSI Committee21 Industry News24 Florida Chapter TCC Volunteer Request25 Florida Chapter TCC Invitation26 Florida Chapter TCC Prize Package27 ANSI Accreditation28 Florida Chapter Board

2 Updates29 Florida Chapter Cert. Exam Schedule32 Florida Chapter Education Schedule32 New Florida Chapter Members33 Arborist Certification Committee Report34 Florida Chapter Tree Climbing FORMS35-39 Florida Loses Elderly SenatorMark Lerch Certified Arborist and Professional Landscape ArchitectEarly in the morning, January 16th the great Bald cypress tree known to many Floridians as The Big Tree and to others as The Senator burned to the ground despite heroic efforts to douse the fire. Firefighters responded at 5:50 Monday, dragging fire hoses 800 feet through the park s wooded trails to get to the fire.

3 Later, a helicopter was brought in to assist but it was already too late. By 8:30 the tree had completely collapsed upon itself, reduced to a pile of ashes. After the fire was extinguished about 20 -25 of the tree remained standing, reported Mike Martin of the Florida Forest Service. Before its demise, it was reported to be the largest Bald Cypress in the United States and the 5th oldest tree in the world at 3500 years old. Conflicting reports source the age of the tree to an estimate in 1936 by the American Forestry Association and another attributes the age to an increment boring taken by the Florida Forest Service in 1946, in which the tree rings were counted.

4 It was not a National Champion but was the largest native tree in Florida and was a Florida champion. Classification of the tree had gone back and forth between it being a Pond Cypress and a Bald Cypress. At the time of its burning, it was classified as a Bald The Senator after Florida State Senator Moses Overstreet (1920-1925) who donated the land that became Big Tree Park to Seminole County, the tree has withstood previous catastrophes. In 1925 a hurricane actually took its top off, knocking it down from 165 in height to 118.

5 Initially, news services reported that they were being informed by officials that arson was the suspected cause of the fire that brought the tree down but The Senator continued on page 92 Florida Arborist Spring 2012A Message From the PresidentI would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and say that I am honored and humbled to represent the Florida Chap-ter ISA as president in 2012. It is a great privilege to do so and I hope that I am worthy to rep-resent the 1100 or so members of our Chapter. It has been exciting to watch the evolution of the Chapter from its gen-esis in 1996 when it separated from the Southern Chapter to its current status as one of the largest chapters of wear two hats that of a consulting Arborist as well as consult-ing forester.

6 I work with trees in the woods as well as in an urban setting. I have over 35 years experience; I started in the public sector with the Florida Division of Forestry (now known as the Florida Forest Service) and then transferred into the private sec-tor, briefly as an environmental consultant, then as a consulting forester/ Arborist with my own business, and, for the past 17 years, as an employee with Natural Resource Planning Services, Inc. I have been a long time member of the ISA and have been a Certi-fied Arborist since 1992. It is a goal of the entire Florida ISA Board of Directors this year to be as open and visible to the membership as possible.

7 We are mak-ing an effort to have a Board member present at every educational function during the course of the year. We want to hear from as many members and non-members as possible your concerns, your complaints, and ways we can improve the Chapter. If you are not a member, we want you to tell us why and what the Chapter needs to do to encourage you to join. We also encourage any member to attend a Board meeting. At the recent meeting in January, four non-members were present and we welcomed the input they provided. The Board meetings are open to all; we are not a closed society.

8 Our next Board meet-ing is March 23rd at the IFAS office in Orlando. We will also hold a meeting the Saturday immediately preceding Trees Florida at South Seas Plantation. Just send an email to to let staff know that you plan to it may sound like a clich , the Board of Directors does exist to represent the members of the Florida Chapter. Feel free at any time to call or email me or any Board member and express your views, concerns, and suggestions. I look forward to repre-senting the membership and hearing from you during the course of the year.

9 Eric H. Hoyer John P. White Memorial ScholarshipSupporting education in the arboriculture/urban forestry SemesterlySponsored by: Florida Chapter International Society of Arboriculture and Florida Urban Forestry CouncilGet More Infomemo boardUp By Roots Pompano Beach 3/21/2012 LA CEUs offered! w Register Online w Class Flyer2012 Outdoor Tree School Safety Harbor 3/2/2012 (1/2 day)w Register Online w Class FlyerArborist Safety and ClimbingTampa 3/16/2012w Register Onlinew Class FlyerFC-Tree Climbing Championship Safety Harbor 3/3/2012 w Compete/Volunteer FormsPlant Health Care Tampa -4/10/2012 and Miami -4/13/2012 Watch for registration info 3 Florida Arborist Spring 2012 Florida Chapter ISA2012 Board of DirectorsFlorida Arborist newsletter is published quarterly by the Florida Chapter of The International Society of Arboriculture, Inc.

10 , 7853 South Leewynn Court, Sarasota, FL 34240, and is intended as an educational benefit to our members. Information may be reprinted if credit is given to the author(s) and this newsletter. Please submit all requests and articles to: Norm Easey, 7853 South Leewynn Court, Sarasota, FL 34240, Fax (941)342-0463 Email: Articles submitted will not be returned and are preferred in electronic format via disk or e-mail. The Florida Chapter reserves the right to refuse or edit submitted articles or advertising as seen fit. All pictures, articles, advertisements and other data are in no way to be construed as an endorsement of the author, products, services, or techniques.